Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Madman Atomic Comics #11, about which I write the following sentences: "Issue #11 actually begins to answer some aspects of the questions Allred has posed for years. It's not the first time Frank Einstein has discovered something about his origins, or his purpose, but Allred always seems to provide more mystery beneath the unrevealed layers. Here, Allred finally reveals the source of the black narrative captions that have appeared in previous issues. They belong to the ethereal Zacheous who says, to Madman, 'We were the best of friends in preexistence.' Zacheous, an obscure Biblical name, has specific religious connotations, but here he acts more as a messenger from the spirit world. Perhaps Allred's Mormonism directly informs this characterization -- I don't know enough about that specific belief system to comment upon it one way or the other -- but I see this character, along with all the others, not as specific manifestations of a single doctrine, but as archetypal characters who represent aspects of the human spirit."

No comments:

About Me

Timothy Callahan is an educator and a writer. He has written books, like Grant Morrison: The Early Years, and edited books like Teenagers from the Future. He used to co-host the weekly Splash Page podcast, but now he mostly spends his free time creating role-playing games like CRAWLJAMMER and the upcoming SUPERWAR.